What do you do when your cousins from New Jersey are a 4 hour drive away in St. Louis on July 4th? Of course you wake up at the butt crack of dawn and make the 4 hour drive to see them. We hit the road at 5:45 am and picked up our daughter and her fiance’ and headed north. We parked and rode the train into the city so we wouldn’t have to fight traffic and stepped off the train at 11:01 by the Arch. There were several streets blocked off for a parade so it took a few minutes for us to find them. After hugs and greetings all around, we walked to the Arch, explored inside and then walked around it while discussing the herculean effort of building it. We challenged them to go to the top, but we were more interested in visiting and spending time with each other. We headed to ballpark village for lunch and took our time catching up on what’s been going on, wedding plans for our daughter and how all the families are all doing . Next, we decided to grab some scooters and ride them away from the crowds. Several blocks from where we started, we found a parking lot and were making laps when we had a minor mishap so my cousin and I sat on a retaining wall icing her shin and talking like no time had lapsed since we saw each other last. We decided that we would take our time and walk back to where we started and let the others scooter back. We weren’t looking forward to the walk back and just as we were starting, a bicycle cart came around the corner with no passengers. We gladly paid the man and he took us back to ballpark village. That was a lifesaver! Together again, we decided to check out the air show about to start and discussed the planes as they performed their tricks with the arch in the foreground. We talked until the very last minute and with a smile on one side of our mouth and a frown on the other, we double hugged everyone and hopped the train back to the car. We discussed our day on the way back and we were so happy we made the trip. Because time is so precious and we never know how much time we do have, I believe it is in all our best interest to spend as much time with those you love, even if you have to leave early and get home late.
